All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 154: Stemming the Tide

Chapter 154: Stemming the Tide

Bee rolled as she hit the ground. A writhing mass of undead surrounded her on all sides. They had already filled the empty archway and completely obscured the fallen gate where it lay, dust still settling from when it fell.

It had only taken her and her master a few quick seconds of conversation mid-flight before they decided on a plan. It wasn't the best plan, and certainly not what she would have chosen, but her master had been quite insistent, and she didn't want to let it down.

So she was going to hold the gate while Void went and talked to the human leader. It would figure out the situation and where their help was most needed. It would also try to convince other humans that the pair were a friendly force rather than some evil demon, as everyone seemed to automatically assume.

That last part was what Bee worried about most. Those concerns were easily dispelled in the castle, where Void had proven itself, and the audience was predisposed to listen to their savior. However, humans in positions of power didn't usually mix well with listening. Especially when they didn't want to.

Getting to her feet, she struck out in a wide arc with her broom. She had landed in the thick of things, hoping to take some pressure off of the defenders within the city. According to her Scan, the zombies ranged in level from 5 to 25, most around 13 or so. Their sheer numbers were the problem, though.

Only a fraction of the zombie army had actually made it in at this point, but they were quickly overwhelming the men behind her. She had seen some get flung from the wall above when the gate fell, yet she had no time to check whether they were still alive or not. The sudden attack had slowed down the response enough for the undead to take the gap in the wall.

The humans were pressing forward, trying to cut off the flow of attackers, but so far, it has been unsuccessful. Her drop into the center had disrupted things, though. Maybe it would be enough for them to take back some ground.

Her bladed broom decapitated a group of zombies with ease. Twisting the weapon, she brought the bristles up towards the face of another that charged forward. As it stumbled, she brought the blade back in another deadly arc. Most of the zombies didn't stop attacking her, but the ones coming directly at her did. She spun the broom deftly in her hands, undead falling with every swing. Her Improved Pathing guided her strikes through the most concentrated groups of enemies while also warning her of incoming attacks.

As she swept through the battlefield like a whirlwind, a bubble of space began to form with her at the center. The streaming zombies still passed by her on either side, but the center of the archway was rendered utterly impassable. This slowed down the advance enough that the humans started to make progress on stemming the flow around her.

As well as it was going, she could tell that it wouldn't be enough. By the time they had fully taken control of the gate, there would be thousands of undead inside the city already, and who knew how much havoc that would cause.

As she continued fighting, she felt her skills growing as they were challenged for the first time in a long while. Improved Pathing further optimized her motions to be more efficient and save energy. She also noticed that it was making her strategy more effective. Rather than always killing with every single strike, she was always incapacitating, slowing down, knocking over, or otherwise stalling the undead advance.

The scan was beginning to condense the information it was giving her into a more quickly digestible format. As she frantically used the skill, zombies began to give off a slight colored glow based on level. Lower levels appeared dark blue, while higher levels appeared more green. It helped her to prioritize her marks, something that Advanced Pathing took full advantage of.

Her newest skill was also finally getting some use. The Holy Aura extended only about 10 ft in every direction, but it drastically weakened any undead there was in the area. She could see them stumble and slow as they came within her influence. The few times the lesser shades tried to attack her, they started sizzling and quickly fled her presence.

That wasn't to say she didn't take injuries; she was only one little girl facing off against tens of thousands of undead rushing at her. She got a bit scratched and took several blows to the arms and legs in particular. Fortunately, she had moved some of her vials of potions onto her belt for easy access.

Her usual strength and speed potions were starting to kick in now. But eventually, she had to switch the broom to one hand and down a healing potion. It rapidly rid her of the many small wounds that were slowing her down.

A particularly dense group of high-level zombies caught her eye. Reflexively, she pulled a flask of "cleaning solution" from her belt and hurled it towards the lead one. It shattered against the lead zombie's head and splattered around. The head began to rapidly dissolve, and soon the lead zombie fell lifeless to the ground as its companions sizzled and stumbled around it.

Bee danced methodically through moves of slicing, bashing, deflecting, and throwing. In some ways, it reminded her of harvesting wheat with Tony and his family. Even if the "wheat" here was far more aggressive.

However, she couldn't keep this up forever. She was going to reach the limit of potions she could safely consume at some point, so she couldn't keep fighting at her peak efficiency. Plus, despite moving faster than she ever had before, with more power behind each move, with each move better placed and a Holy Aura supporting her, she was still receiving the occasional blow.

Her Repair and Improved Repair skills were certainly pulling their weight, though. With just the remains of a healing potion still in her body, they were able to easily keep up with the continual stream of damage she received. In fact, it was so effective that she started worrying a lot less about defense and more about simply taking down as many zombies as she could.

After a couple minutes, the wall of bodies she had been slowly building around her became an actual issue for the undead. They tried to trample over them, but climbing the pile slowed them down and gave her a better avenue of attack. More and more were being forced to the sides in narrower streams. Glancing back, she saw that the humans had finally regrouped. They formed shield walls around the archway. Short swords periodically slid through the front gaps, and spears stabbed at any intrepid climbers from above.

Reinforcements had also arrived. A coterie of mages in the back were flinging dust and vials out into the mass undead. Where they landed, the enemies ended up frozen or simply collapsed into heaps. Towards the middle of each formation stood a figure armed not with a weapon; instead, they held a staff with a glowing crystal talisman at the top of it. The staff was pointed at any incoming shades, which seemed to ward them off somehow.

As the humans moved forward in a steady marching rhythm, they quickly cleared the undead in the path, and Bee was able to step back from her one-man stand. The wall briefly parted to allow her through.

As soon as the wall sealed again, she slung her back to the ground and started digging through it. She pulled out a rack of her remaining healing potions and quickly went to work on the wounded that had survived the initial fall of the wall or the subsequent fighting.

The military quickly adopted and moved around her, bringing the wounded to her and removing the ones that had been treated. They didn't ask where she had come from or what she was doing; they simply let her do her job. No one wanted to question the girl that had held off an army.

—

I wasn't sure how we had settled on this plan. It didn't seem like a very good idea, to be honest. Why was I the one going to find the enemy general alone? Especially since I very much doubted that whoever was in command would be able to understand me. Still, I guess I had to try.

Looking back toward where I left Beatrice, I could see that she was putting in work. I was truly proud of that young girl's work ethic. She never seemed to back down from a challenge, no matter how difficult it might first appear.

I zipped between the legs of the soldiers rushing towards the gate or hunting down the zombies in the city, looking for someone who was in charge. I found a few people who seemed to be giving out orders, but they didn't seem to realize I was trying to speak to them. Some gave me funny looks but soon ignored me, clearly more focused on organizing the response.

Eventually, I found who they reported to. It took me nearly a minute, but there was an older man with the highest number of stripes on his shoulders running down a side street towards the front lines. He seemed to be in charge based on the way people jumped out of his path.

I went to hover in front of him, and he skidded to a halt looking at me. Something in his eyes told me that he wasn't going to just dismiss me as unimportant. He recognized me as different as new and, judging by the hardness in his eyes, possibly a threat.

I beeped the quick message at him, and he cocked his head, staring at me. His hand gripped his sword hilt, but he kept it by his side. Still, at the angle and position of his body, he looked ready to draw it at a moment's notice. "What manner of creature are you?"

I tried to respond; I really did. But I don't think he understood. Still, he was smart enough to realize that I wasn't attacking him, so he tried one more time. "You resemble something I've heard described. Something that Harold warned me about."

This wasn't getting anywhere. Clearly, I had become too used to communicating with words with the rest of the humans. It was time to get back to my roots. Popping out my arm, I pointed to the gate. Unfortunately, we were in a little bit of an alleyway, and I was just pointing at a wall. His gaze flicked toward the rocks with a quick movement, never fully taking attention off of me. When he didn't see what I was trying to convey, a confused look grew on his face. "You're trying to tell me something but I don't understand."

Frustrated, I backed up a little bit so it was clear that it wasn't pointing at the wall next to me but rather down the main street leading toward the gate where Beatrice was still fighting. It also put me in the path of many people trying to run around. I had to hover myself up above the heads of everyone. To avoid them. Hesitantly, Arthur stepped forward and looked around the corner. His eyes went wide. I could only assume it was because of the distinct lack of a gate and the parts of the wall next to them that had crumbled. He clearly was taken aback.

Looking back at me, he waited for me to continue this time. I was more interested in precisely not pointing at the gates but at the lone little figure holding back the tide of undead.

"That girl," he whispered. "Is that who you came with?"

My sensors picked up motion on the other end of the alleyway. A pair of zombies was about to shamble around the corner. This guy could probably deal with it, but I wanted to be helpful where possible.

My sanitation lamp fired two beams over the man’s shoulder. In 0.12 seconds, his sword was out of his sheath as he rolled out of the way. Oops. Perhaps I should have warned him. Nonetheless, the threat was taken care of. A gurgling moan escaped from the zombies’ throats as they collapsed to the ground.